A divestitive fact is a fact that causes the loss of previously held legal rights. As seen in Bailey v. Iowa Beef Processors Inc., divestitive facts are a type of operative facts.
[Last updated in September of 2022 by the Wex...
constitutional law
dormant commerce clause
The Dormant Commerce Clause refers to a legal doctrine derived from the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution. While the Commerce Clause explicitly grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, the Dormant Commerce Clause is...
double jeopardy
The Double Jeopardy Clause in the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for substantially the same crime. The relevant part of the Fifth Amendment states, "No person shall . . . be subject for the...
draft
Document Draft
Draft refers to an unfinalized document, which can arise in numerous contexts in the legal field. Often, contracts, motions, briefs, and pieces of legislation go through numerous drafts before agreeing upon a finalized...
due process
Introduction
The Constitution states only one command twice. The Fifth Amendment says to the federal government that no one shall be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law." The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in...
Eighth Amendment
The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
The Excessive Bail section provides constitutional protection...
elections
Election Law: An Overview
Citizens make choices by voting in elections. Two types of elections exist: general elections and special elections. A general election occurs at a regularly scheduled interval as mandated by law. A special election...
electronic surveillance
Overview
Electronic surveillance is the acquisition of information by an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device of the contents of any wire or electronic communication, under circumstances in which a party to the communication...
emergency powers
Emergency powers broadly refers to the authority given to individuals in the executive to act outside the traditional bounds of their authority in order to react to a danger that normal channels for approval could not address. The most...
eminent domain
Overview
Eminent domain refers to the power of the government to take private property and convert it into public use, referred to as a taking. The Fifth Amendment provides that the government may only exercise this power if they provide...